Assessment of labor productivity in construction projects using system dynamic approach

Khanzadi, Mostafa; Kaveh, A.; Alipour, Majid; Khanmohammadi, Reza

doi:10.24200/sci.2017.4164

Cited by 10 publications

(11 citation statements)

References 26 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…SD has received increasing popularity with productivity researchers. For instance, SD was employed to assess labor productivity [57]. In addition, SD could be further applied to investigate the most critical factors affecting labor productivity and discover the root cause of labor productivity decline [58,59].…”

Section: Current Research Topicsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In the aspect of construction productivity, assessment of productivity is very attractive to researchers. Due to the fact that the construction industry has long been a labor-intensive industry, previous studies have focused on SD applications in labor productivity [57]. However, with the advances of technology, more and more digital technologies, such as big data [78], building information modeling [79], and virtual reality [80], are emerging to improve construction productivity.…”

Section: Construction Productivity Researchmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

A Scientometric Review of System Dynamics Applications in Construction Management Research

Yang

Lai

et al. 2020

Sustainability

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Construction management can be regarded as a complex and dynamic system. In recent years, system dynamics (SD) has been widely applied to solve the complex and dynamic problems in the construction management. However, there is a lack of a scientometric analysis to investigate SD applications in construction management from an objective perspective. To fill out this research gap, this study retrieved a total of 222 relevant articles from the Scopus database. Then, VOSviewer was employed to analyze the collected literature from five aspects (i.e., co-authorship, published journals, co-occurring keywords, article citations, and regions). Based on the analysis results, four mainstream research themes were identified and discussed, including “risk management”, “waste management”, “energy management”, and “construction productivity”. In addition, future research directions, such as “construction risk allocation in PPP projects”, “evaluating the economic feasibility of construction waste landfilling centers”, “identifying the variables affecting lighting infrastructure energy consumption”, and “assessing construction productivity for technology-intensive activities”, were proposed. The contribution of this study lies in that it helps both scholars and practitioners to solve the complex and dynamic problems in construction management.

show abstract

Section: Current Research Topicsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Construction Productivity Researchmentioning

confidence: 99%

A Scientometric Review of System Dynamics Applications in Construction Management Research

Yang

Lai

et al. 2020

Sustainability

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…In construction sector, Khanzadi et al (2017) and Nasirzadeh and Nojedehi (2013) applied SD to model laborers' working behaviors and forecast their productivity; Han et al (2011) estimated the effects of change orders using a similar SD structure; Emuze et al (2014) refined the structure and integrated a sub-model to evaluate the influences of NVAAs. Meanwhile, Ahn and Lee (2014) used ABM to test the effects of different management methods on absenteeism; Watkins et al (2009) built an ABM to estimate crew productivity, considering both laborers' properties and interactions between laborers.…”

Section: Simulation-based Study Of Laborer Behaviors In the Construction Sectormentioning

confidence: 99%

Understanding laborers’ behavioral diversities in multinational construction projects using integrated simulation approach

Chen

Jiang

et al. 2019

ECAM

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Purpose Employing multi-type laborers (MLs) is common in multinational and cross-culture projects (MPCs). Different attributes of MLs can lead to uncertain and dynamic laborer behaviors (i.e. behavioral diversities), which may cause project deviations. Previous studies do not consider the uncertainties or dynamics of behaviors adequately or they only provide general suggestions. The purpose of this paper is to combine system dynamics (SD) and agent-based modeling (ABM) to build an integrated model. The proposed ABM-SD can gain better understanding of MLs’ behavioral diversities, reveal the associated impacts and improve project management. Design/methodology/approach Based on extensively review in construction labor management and computer simulation, architecture is built to depict the relationships between the affecting factors of MLs’ behaviors, MLs’ behavioral diversities and project performance. Second, conceptual structures of the ABM-SD model are developed. Third, methods to implement the model in practice are introduced, focusing on data collection and model structure adjustment. Finally, the model is tested in a case study. Findings Different ML groups have distinctive behaviors which constantly change through interactions between MLs, engineers and external environment. Inadequate consideration of the diversities can result in inaccurate estimation of productivity, work quality and absenteeism, causing severe project deviations such as schedule delay, cost overrun and high absenteeism. On the other hand, using the ABM-SD model, the root causes of project deviations are analyzed from the perspective of MLs’ behavioral diversities and the optimization of labor management can significantly improve project performance. Research limitations/implications This paper supplements previous studies because the ABM-SD model takes fully use of the strength of simulation of solving uncertain and dynamic problems and combines both qualitative and quantitative findings in existing studies of labor management. Besides, the ABM-SD model is also a practical management tool to better monitor laborer behaviors and forecast the impacts. The limitation is mainly about the small scale of the case study. However, the ABM-SD model already demonstrates the mechanism about how MLs’ different behaviors affect a project, which fulfill the aim of the study. Practical implications The ABM-SD model can simulate MLs’ behavioral diversities and produce reliable estimations of project performance. It also allows to optimize management plans. Furthermore, The ABM-SD model is adjustable based on specific project conditions, which make it applicable for different tasks, different laborer compositions and even different projects. Thus, the ABM-SD model can be a practical tool for engineers in MCPs. Originality/value SD and ABM are applied to study behaviors with well-known benefits in both separated and integrated manner. However, few studies use the approach to investigate MLs’ behaviors in MCPs. Hence, the proposed ABM-SD model is an original attempt to improve the laborer management level in MCPs.

show abstract

“…Bédécarrats et al (2009) consulted 32 large construction companies in Turkey and used the t -test to analyze the data collected from 82 construction projects to determine the productivity of Turkish construction enterprises and the industry’s status as a whole. Khanzadi et al (2017) constructed a qualitative model by using cause-and-effect feedback loops; the resulting model can be regarded as a method to model labor productivity for different types of contractors based on system dynamic (SD) simulations. Lee et al (2017) explored the importance of labor productivity data for the measurement of compound progress and developed a field labor productivity data acquisition method by integrating a 3D model with associated information.…”

Section: Literature Reviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

Workforce productivity evaluation of the US construction industry from 2006 to 2016

Lin

Cui

et al. 2019

ECAM

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Purpose Currently, there is a dearth of research studies regarding macro analysis of the workforce productivity of the US construction industry. The purpose of this paper is to calculate the workforce productivity changes of the US construction industry from 2006 to 2016, with the number of laborers as input and value of construction industry as output. Design/methodology/approach The present study introduced the data envelopment analysis (DEA) based Malmquist productivity index model to measure the workforce productivity of the US construction industry from 2006 to 2016. Findings The results indicated that the workforce productivity of the US construction industry experienced a continuous decline, except for the increases from 2011 to 2013 and from 2014 to 2015. It was also shown that there were gaps in the workforce productivity development level among all states and nine regions in the US construction industry. Besides, the relationship between workforce productivity and four aspects, including real estate price, workforce, climate distribution and economic factors, was analyzed. Research limitations/implications The calculation of the productivity of the US construction industry is based on the premise that the external environment is fixed and unchanged from 2006 to 2016, but the multi-level DEA model for further calculation is required for obtaining more effective conclusions. Social implications This paper measures the workforce productivity of the US construction industry over the past 11 years, which added latest analysis and knowledge into the construction industry, providing decision-makers with advice and data support to formulate policies to improve workforce productivity. Originality/value This study provided both government decision-makers and industrial practitioners with important macro background environment information, which will facilitate the improvement of workforce productivity in the construction industry in different regions of the US.

show abstract

Assessment of labor productivity in construction projects using system dynamic approach

Cited by 10 publications

References 26 publications

A Scientometric Review of System Dynamics Applications in Construction Management Research

A Scientometric Review of System Dynamics Applications in Construction Management Research

Understanding laborers’ behavioral diversities in multinational construction projects using integrated simulation approach

Workforce productivity evaluation of the US construction industry from 2006 to 2016

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About