Partnering relationships in construction: A literature review

There is no unified view as to what partnering relationships are in the construction industry. The purpose of this paper is to examine the literature in order to identify the main assumptions about partnering relationships in construction research and practice. The literature is compared to the Construction Industry Institute’s (CII, 1991) frequently cited definition of partnering as a long-term commitment between two or more parties in which shared understanding and trust develop for the benefits of improving construction. The literature review reveals a tendency to focus on project partnering in dyads between clients and contractors and there is also an emphasis on formal tools to develop these relationships, even if social aspects and relationship dynamics are recognised. The paper discusses these findings and suggests that, in order to increase the understanding of the substance and function of partnering relationships, it could be useful to incorporate knowledge from theoretical perspectives that are more in line with the CII definition. Two perspectives that seem particularly interesting in this respect are Supply Chain Management (SCM) and the Industrial Network Approach (INA), both of which focus on long-term relationships between actors beyond the dyad. INA also emphasises the informal aspects of relationship development. Incorporating these dimensions of partnering relationships requires processual and longitudinal studies, which are relatively rare in the contemporary partnering literature.     

A small country's high-tech dilemma: the challenge facing new technology-based firms in Norway

Judging from their profit trends, new technology-based firms have not been very successful in Norway. After ten or more years of activity, fewer than half a dozen has accumulated profits over £1 million. Those that risked large initial investments in order to standardize an innovative new technology enjoyed the greatest amount of success. Most firms were able to develop a prototype, but many had great difficulties gearing up for production. Insufficient financing and know-how were the main problems. Firms have had more problems with production than with marketing, but very few seem prepared for the costs and challenges of an international marketing effort. Most lacked a clear marketing strategy or business plan. Financing was often a problem: there was little private investment, and equity capital was often scarce with a mean debt to equity ratio of less than 30%. Most firms received some sort of public funding, usually in support of product development, but so far it has had little impact on profit trends. A multi-national follow-up study with access to a larger data base would provide many more insights.     

Restructuring the Innovation Capacity of the Business Sector in Estonia: Business Survey Result

The growth prospects of the Estonian economy depend on transforming the former 'socialist' industrial R&D into competitive business-sector innovation activities, establishing interactions between firms and other research units, and accelerating international diffusion. An additional task, specific for a transition country, is intensive utilization of the inherited human capital. The results of a business survey conducted in Tallinn in the summer of 1996 indicate that favourable restructuring of industrial R&D and the development of new innovation capacities are indeed taking place. The regression models indicate, however, that while the results seem to be mostly successful, some detailed support is needed. Firstly, further qualitative changes seem to be necessary in the state-owned and privatized electronics firms. And secondly, newly emerging firms need easier access to the capital market and management expertise.     

Interrelated harms: Examining the associations between victimization,accidents, and criminal behavior

Problem. This study investigated the existence of positive associations between criminal behavior (‘offending’), traffic accidents, falls and tripping, and being the victim of a crime. The motivation for the study was that the finding of positive associations would support the thesis that there may exist a broad behavioral trait, such as a tendency to take risks, which links criminal behavior to diverse negative outcomes. Method. To investigate these issues, data were used from a national sample of the Dutch population. The data were analyzed with the uniform association model. We controlled for age, gender and various socioeconomic variables. Results. The results show that there are relatively strong interrelationships between every one of the four concepts, with only minor qualifications. The weakest relationship was found between falling/tripping and being the victim of a personal or violent crime, with an odds ratio of 1.7. The other interrelationships produced higher odds ratios. Conclusions. Although research relating personality characteristics to accidents has not been common, we conclude that our findings support the idea that there may be a personality factor, such as risk-taking or low self-control, underlying offending behaviors as well as behaviors increasing the likelihood of accidents and crime victimization. Implications for prevention and treatment are also discussed.     

Affirmative action in education: Evidence from engineering college admissions in India

This paper examines an affirmative action program for “lower-caste” groups in engineering colleges in India. We study both the targeting properties of the program, and its implications for labor market outcomes. We find that affirmative action successfully targets the financially disadvantaged: the upper-caste applicants that are displaced by affirmative action come from a richer economic background than the lower-caste applicants that are displacing them. Targeting by caste, however, may lead to the exclusion of other disadvantaged groups. For example, caste-based targeting reduces the overall number of females entering engineering colleges. We find that despite poor entrance exam scores, lower-caste entrants obtain a positive return to admission. Our estimates, however, also suggest that these gains may come at an absolute cost because the income losses experienced by displaced upper-caste applicants are larger than the income gains experienced by displacing lower-caste students. Limited sample sizes in our preferred econometric specifications, however, prevent us from drawing strong conclusions from these labor market findings.     

Planting food sustainability thinking and practice through STEM in the garden

International Journal of Technology and Design Education - Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) education has been identified as a keystone teaching and learning area for...     

Internal control audits: Judges' perceptions of the credibility of the financial reporting process and likely auditor liability

This paper reports the results of a study in which fifty-seven sitting United States judges participated in a behavioral experiment to assess the perceived credibility of the financial reporting process and the legal risk auditors bear under conditions where they provide an internal control audit report (vs. no report) under two corporate governance environments. We find that participating judges believe internal control audits provide enhanced assurance that intentional misstatements do not exist and also serve to provide elevated protection to the public, but only under conditions of a strong corporate governance environment beyond current regulatory requirements. We also find that, after being informed of an undetected material fraud, judges who currently have high expectations of the auditing profession find auditors more liable when an internal control audit report has been issued (as compared to when no such report has been issued).     

No Small Hope: The Basic Goods Imperative

The continuing gender and race/ethnic pay gaps continue to be a matter of considerable concern. Using detailed NLSY data we examine the effects of a number of variables often thought to explain a large part of these gaps. Because the new variables explain some of the differentials our results provide no justification for ascribing all the remaining differentials to discrimination. On the other hand, they explain very little and therefore give no support to those who would discount the possibility of discrimination.