Engineering project networks: providing “sustainable work systems” for construction knowledge workers

Abstract

Purpose The construction industry faces three emergent developments that in all likelihood will transform the industry into the future. First, engineering project networks (EPNs), in which teams collaborate on projects remotely in time and space, are transforming global construction practices. Second, as a major consumer of resources and significant producer of green-house gases, construction is under pressure to reduce its carbon footprint. Third, the construction industry presents as one of the least socially sustainable work environments, with high job dissatisfaction, skewed work–life balance and over representation of depressive and mental disorders. It is incumbent on the industry to reconcile these issues. Specifically, what scope is there to shape the evolution of EPNs towards a configuration that both promotes sustainability generally, and enhances quality of work-life issues, while at the same time continuing to apprehend the economic dividends for which it is adopted? As salient as this question is, it has not been broached in the literature. Therefore, this study aims to survey the extent to which EPNs align with the sustainability agenda, more broadly, and that of employee work-place satisfaction, more specifically. Design/methodology/approach A literature review of current knowledge of these concerns is explored and a summative assessment presented. Findings To the best of the authors’ knowledge, as the first in its kind, the study brings to light that EPNs go a long way towards facilitating economic objectives, part way towards realising ecological and sociological objectives but make hardly any impact on improving employee work satisfaction. Originality/value This paper examines an entirely novel area that has not been studied yet. Future research should take up this finding to determine how EPNs may be further adapted to accommodate these wider necessary objectives.

The critical success factors to remote development of construction management skills and competencies in Nigeria

“…Post Covid-19 pandemic, Engineering Project Networks (EPNs) that enable virtual teams work and learning in a globalised manner with disparate and transient individuals bringing together skills and competencies across the world is becoming an inevitable strategy in construction industry (Hosseini et al , 2020). This justifies Zainon et al ’s (2020) recognition of information and communication technology training as one of the current top-ranking CSFs for construction management professionals.…”

“…Post Covid-19 pandemic, Engineering Project Networks (EPNs) that enable virtual teams work and learning in a globalised manner with disparate and transient individuals bringing together skills and competencies across the world is becoming an inevitable strategy in construction industry (Hosseini et al, 2020). This justifies Zainon et al's (2020) Its capability has over time evolved from being purely a static archive of information to being an enormous connector of humans to information and of human to human (Kuo et al, 2013).…”

Systematic review on the identification of safety risks in off-site manufacturing (OSM)

“…Initially, a comprehensive literature search was carried out in the dominant electronic databases (Scopus, Web of Science, American Society of Civil Engineers Research Library, EBSCOhost and ScienceDirect) on OSM safety, from the inception to August 2021. Databases were chosen based on the reputation among the largest online sources that provide peer-reviewed materials (Babalola et al , 2019; Hosseini et al , 2020).…”

“…Accordingly, the Systematic Literature Review (SLR) method was adopted to review OSM related safety researches. SLR has been identified as a well-recognised method for reviewing and synthesising literature and is increasingly applied in the construction management field (Newaz et al , 2018; Soltanmohammadlou et al , 2019; Hosseini et al , 2020). This research comprised four distinct stages (Figure 2):…”

“…Mutual interaction refers to the collaboration among stakeholders within the OSM organisation (e.g., level of communication between designer at plant and project manager at assembly site). Databases were chosen based on the reputation among the largest online sources that provide peer-reviewed materials (Babalola et al, 2019;Hosseini et al, 2020). Two categories (i.e.…”