1,185 research outputs found
Client-contractor collaboration in bouwteams: A contractor's perspective
No full textRecently, the Marktvisie (2016) expressed the need for more collaborative relationships based on equality and lately, a shift from adversarial to collaborative relationships is observed. The use of collaborative contracting strategies is increasing of which the bouwteam is an example. The bouwteam is a collaboration agreement during the design phase of a construction project, in which at least client, contractor, and designer work together to deliver a feasible and constructible design. Even though the contractor is involved early the client is still in charge of the project and has control over the design, indicating that client and contractor are dependent upon each other. The goal of this research is to identify contractor's perspectives of collaboration in bouwteam, in order to find a way for contractors to influence client-contractor collaboration in bouwteams to achieve successful project delivery. Three contractor's perspectives are identified with help of Q-methodology, including a Q-set of success factors for collaboration in bouwteams, and are called relationship first, early involvement of the right people, and structure first. Even though the perspective value collaboration differently, they share the belief that mutual trust and a clear defined scope of the bouwteam are most essential for collaboration in bouwteams. To indicate how contractors can influence client-contractor collaboration, strategies are designed based on the identified contractor's perspectives and implementation of them. Since each client is different and a client-specific approach is desirable, three clients are identified in literature and for each one a strategy is designed. Combined, the strategies form a strategic framework that can be used by contractors. To define a way for contractors to influence client-contractor collaboration, practical implications are established. For the contractor, it is important to define the scope early and clearly for successful project delivery. To achieve this, the contractor can identify the client charactertiscts of the involved client and determine the perspective of available personnel. The contractor's are a valuable reference for the contractor because they represent his playing field. The contractor can have a meeting with the client to elaborate on which success factors are most important for the bouwteam. With this information, the contractor can determine which perspectives are most appropriate to establish good collaboration. As a result, the contractor can develop a strategy and communicate this internally. For this, the strategic framework can be used as a guideline to give insights into possibilities and considerations. In doing so, relationship first and structure first are considered most suitable for good collaboration. Dependent on the client, the contractor can choose the right perspective to deploy to influence client-contractor collaboration to achieve successful project delivery. Nonetheless, in the end, defining the scope is one of the most important success factors for collaboration for the contractor, independent of the strategy to be develop. However, one has to question whether the bouwteam is a necessary approach for collaboration between client and contractor in a project. But even when this is not the case, the contractor's perspectives can stille be used since the collaborative principles from a contractor's perspective are similar. Civil Engineering | Construction Management and Engineerin
Immobilization of antibodies on polyaniline films and its application in a piezoelectric immunosensor
No full textConducting polymers, especially polyaniline (PAni), have been extensively used in biosensor applications. A protocol for covalent immobilization of human IgG on polyaniline using glutaraldehyde as the cross-linker is described in this report and utilized in development of a piezoelectric immunosensor. Here, PAni was used as the substrate for immobilization. The electropolymerization parameters were optimized to get suitable thickness and surface morphology of the PAni for obtaining high density and uniformity of immobilized antibodies on the surface of our films. Possible reaction between PAni thin films and glutaraldehyde was explored using FT-IR characterization in grazing angle mode and XPS. The protocol has been characterized with the help of quartz crystal microbalance analysis. An antibody surface density of 4.86 ng/ mm(2) was obtained. A piezoelectric biosensor developed for detection of IgG with the proposed protocol was capable of differentiating the target analyte concentrations between 500 ng/ mL and 25 mu g/mL with nonspecific binding of similar to 10%
The influence of different contract types on the effectiveness of owner-contractor relationships in construction projects
No full textThe nature of working relationship between owner and contractor in engineering and construction projects is considered to have a major effect on the project performance. This research focuses on factors that may influence owner-contractor relationship effectiveness. Literature suggests that different types of contract, being one of these factors, tend to influence owner-contractor relationships. The aim of this research was is to clarify the role of different contract types on owner-contractor relationship effectiveness in industrial construction projects. A Q-methodology based study was performed to reveal the subjective perceptions of the project managers on the relative influence of various contract aspects and of other influencing factors of owner-contractor relationships. The influence of contract types on the relationships for project-specific situations was investigated by a project evaluation study. In this study, the relationship quality of four different projects was evaluated, using a relationship maturity assessment matrix. The research results show that contract type is not the tool to influence relationship effectiveness. The only contract aspects, which are identified as instrumental to improve the relationship, are contact aspects related to project structure specifying roles and responsibilities, and contract aspects about targeted criteria for performance.Management of TechnologyTechnology, Strategy and EntrepreneurshipTechnology, Policy and Managemen
Contractor cooperation mechanism and evolution of the green supply chain in mega projects
No full textThe large scale of construction in mega projects leads to significant environmental and socioeconomic impacts; thus, the projects should also exhibit greater social responsibility. Adopting green supply chain management in the construction process is an important way to realize the goal of sustainable development of mega projects. Because the green supply chain behavior during construction is mainly demonstrated by contractors, it is especially important to study the evolutionary trend of their behavior. Thus, to explore the cooperative relationship among contractors, this paper considers a lengthy construction period, multi-agent participation dynamics, and opportunistic behavior-all are key features of mega projects-and establishes an evolutionary game model. Specifically, a replicator dynamic equation is used to describe the long-term effects of the contractor's decisions. Equilibrium determinants are then analyzed and simulated. The results show that the initial probabilities of the two types of contractors (main contractor and subcontractor) demonstrating opportunistic behaviors have a significant effect on the direction of evolution of the mega project. The main contractor, who dominates the subsidy allocation by the government and project owner, should pay attention to maintaining a balance in the income distribution between him or her and the subcontractor. Additionally, there is an optimal distribution coefficient for the subsidy that minimizes the overall probability of opportunistic behavior. This paper provides a point of reference for the decisions of the main contractor and the subcontractor in the green supply chain of mega projects.Integral Design & Managemen
Morphological changes with electrode potential in microtubules and nanowires of Polyaniline: an in-situ EC-AFM study
No full textPolyaniline (PANI) changes its conformation and conductivity on alteration of its electrochemical state. In the present work, we have studied the morphological changes with electrode potential in microtubules and nanowires of PANI using in-situ electrochemical AFM (EC-AFM). About 15 to 20% change in dimensions was observed on changing the electrochemical state in H2SO4 as the electrolyte. Such changes in microtubules and nanowires of PANI may find useful applications in actuation and sensing
Photo-assisted electrolysis cell with p-silicon and n-silicon electrodes
No full textThe photoelectrolysis of water by solar radiation to produce hydrogen and oxygen is achieved using semiconductor electrodes. The cell comprises a p-silicon wafer treated with catalyst as photocathode and metal doped n-silicon wafer as photoanode. The cell is operated at a small bias potential.U
The Influence of External Factors on Client-Contractor Collaboration: And how to anticipate their impact up-front
No full textIn modern construction, collaboration has become a key element for the success of projects. Both clients and contractors are aware of the importance of maintaining a solid relationship. However, as collaboration is subject to ambiguous factors that influence both the content of the project and the social elements, it is proven to be difficult to achieve this mission. Elemental differences in the goals, ambitions and responsibilities of clients and contractors during projects still exist and cause differences in perception. One of the elements collaborations are subject to, are external factors. These are especially hard to deal with due to the fact that the occurrence of said factors is beyond the control of the project team. This research provides insight in this volatile environment with the aim to increase the resilience of collaborations by answering the question: “What external factors are present during construction projects that influence the collaboration between client and contractors and how can the impact of these events be reduced up-front?”. To answer this question, a Q-study is performed. As input for this study, a model of the project environment distinguishing the internal and external project environment is created. The model defines 8 domains of external factors which influence client-contractor collaboration: economic, technological and political -context, the parent organisation of both client and contractor, subcontractors, related projects & surroundings and lastly the stakeholders. From the Q-study four perspectives on external factors are retrieved, confirming the difference in perception of the external factors for individuals, based on their respective role and organisations in the collaboration. To reduce the influence of external factors on the dynamics within the project team, a framework of measures to create resilient collaborations is composed. The measures are divided in three categories: preliminary organisation, creating flexibility and attention to soft side. Each category is elaborated on with specific measures and which domains are addressed by implementing these measures. Moreover, the implementation in the project life cycle is explained making the framework directly usable for project organisations.Civil Engineering | Construction Management and Engineerin
PROSIL
No full textThe PROSIL project aims to facilitate a proactive attitude amongst chemical companies about the REACH Regulation. This will help to promote a transition towards a more responsible environmental approach, and lead to reductions in health risks. Project work will cover both existing and new chemicals, to enable the industry to take account of relevant toxicity properties right from the planning phase of chemical plants.
The main objectives include:
Establishing a network of REACH-related laboratories for the chemical industry;
Exploiting in silico methods for assessing particular situations of chemical substances: chemical categories and mixtures of chemicals of natural origin;
Integrating (Q)SAR models within mainstream industrial procedures;
Screening new chemicals to ensure they are safe;Exploiting methods to generate structural alerts from confidential data;
Producing case studies in the following industrial sectors: dyes, leather, and pesticides; andImproving standardisation on the use of non-testing methods.
Expected results: Anticipated project outcomes include:
A procedure to screen all compounds within a mixture of chemical compounds;
Promotion of (Q)SAR tools, which are safe, residue-free, and environmentally benign compared to experimental methods;
Creation of a guidance document and software for integrating the results from (Q)SAR and read across;
A procedure for scrutinising the safety of candidate new chemicals, before their synthesis;
A procedure for exploiting the hazard values of related compounds within a group of similar compounds;
Development of a network of projects and initiatives applying (Q)SAR models for industry;
Publication of success stories from the dyes, pesticides and leather sectors.In corso€ 48.56
Using critical success factors and Q methodology to discover perspectives on project risk management within a construction organisation
No full textRisk management is a vital process in the construction of large projects. It is necessary to protect the success of the project, the budget, the project timeline and the reputation of an organisation. Alongside the tools and techniques which exist to support risk management, it is also a process which depends on people’s opinions, decisions and how they follow procedures. This study sought to identify the perspectives which exist amongst a group of managers from a main contractor organisation with respect to what is important to risk management. First, a literature study was performed to identify the critical success factors (CSFs) of risk management. Next, Q methodology was used to collect data from 15 managers, five from each of the three different functional teams within the same construction project. The managers were asked to sort the CSFs, from least to most important, according to their opinion on what is important to project risk management. Finally, after the Q sort activity, each manager was interviewed and asked to motivate their choices. The main result of this research was the three perspectives discovered through the Q study. These perspectives are known as Experience and Belief, Procedures and Leaders and Culture and Communication. The names reflect the CSFs which the perspective judged to be most important. The perspectives contained six, five and three respondents respectively and there was one respondent who did not belong to any of the perspectives. On average, across all respondents, “project organisation risk culture” was ranked as the most important and “regular training to enhance risk management skills” was ranked as the least important. It was found to be borderline significant that four of the managers from the design team belonged to the perspective Procedures and Leaders. The results of the research were used to make recommendations to the organisation to improve their risk management. Future research could include repeating the study with a larger and more diverse group of respondents and investigating the links between perspectives and other personal characteristics such as gender and personality type.Civil Engineering | Construction Management and Engineerin
Method of making n-silicon electrodes
No full textThe photoelectrolysis of water by solar radiation to produce hydrogen and oxygen is achieved using semiconductor electrodes. The cell comprises a p-silicon wafer treated with catalyst as photocathode and metal doped n-silicon wafer as photoanode. The cell is operated at a small bias potential.U
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