Strategies for the effective engagement of multi‐national construction enterprises in post‐disaster building and infrastructure projects

Abstract

Purpose -The purpose of this paper is to identify what strategies and mechanisms might be utilised to achieve an effective level of participation by multi-national construction enterprises in post-disaster recovery efforts. Design/methodology/approach -An exploratory qualitative research methodology has been utilised. A total of 28 interviews were conducted. The respondents were from multi-national construction enterprises, international and national humanitarian agencies, construction industry professional organisations, and national government agencies related to disaster management. Findings -The findings suggest that there is great potential for using the resources of multi-national construction enterprise resources to fill the professional resource gap in post-disaster recovery. The best method for achieving this engagement is less clear. Although there are concerns about construction enterprises engaging with a more strategic outlook, there is also recognition that explicit and transparent arrangements would alleviate many of these concerns. Originality/value -The value of building partnerships with the private sector is slowly being realised, but it remains a niche phenomenon and more research is required. This study provides a better understanding of the nature and extent of the relationship between multi-national construction enterprises and efforts to reconstruct buildings and infrastructure following a disaster.

Cross-sector humanitarian–business partnerships in managing humanitarian logistics: an empirical verification

“…Thomas and Fritz (2006) categorise them into four groups: single-company-philanthropic, multi company-philanthropic-partnerships, single-company-integrative-partnership and multi company integrative-partnerships. Haigh and Sutton (2012) propose two dimensions for the categorisations of collaborations between the humanitarian and business sector: financial agreement (philantropics vs business) and the level of engagement (ad hoc vs strategic collaborations), and then categorise the collaboration between the humanitarian and business sector into four generic categories: philanthropic, strategic, business, and political. Samii (2008) proposes a framework of business-humanitarian partnerships based on the number of parties involved and the level of engagement, and also distinguishes the partnerships between business and humanitarian actors into four different types: localised partnerships, strategic partnerships, brokered partnerships and cross-cutting partnerships.…”

“…Partnerships may be purely a philanthropic activity of one of the parties, such as the donation of money by one party to another, or it can be a business arrangement (Balcik et al 2010;Haigh and Sutton 2012;McLachlin and Larson 2011;Muller and Whiteman 2009;Thomas and Fritz 2006). Last, the eighth dimension is the geographic coverage (Oglesby and Burke 2012).…”

Stakeholders and Their Significance in Post Natural Disaster Reconstruction Projects: A Systematic Review of the Literature

“…Relationships among various stakeholders determines effective governance (Samaratunge et al, 2012) which is an important aspect to satisfy their potentially conflicting interests (Chang et al, 2012). Some researchers also emphasised the need to eliminate any clash of interests and improved coherence between stakeholders for better results (Haigh & Sutton, 2012;Rautela, 2006). The stakeholders should improve coherence (Haigh & Sutton, 2012) and the level of engagement (Jigyasu, 2013) to achieve perceived objectives.…”

“…Some researchers also emphasised the need to eliminate any clash of interests and improved coherence between stakeholders for better results (Haigh & Sutton, 2012;Rautela, 2006). The stakeholders should improve coherence (Haigh & Sutton, 2012) and the level of engagement (Jigyasu, 2013) to achieve perceived objectives. Kog and Loh (2012) have identified communication with stakeholders and analysing their needs as a most significant factor for stakeholder management.…”

Analysis of Measures for Managing Issues in Post-Disaster Housing Reconstruction

“…Import workers [8,29,41] Helps to meet expertise, skills and competency demands [42,43]; Increases reconstruction costs [44]; Stabilizes escalating workers' wages [45]; Exacerbates housing shortage and causes rental price inflation [46,47]; Discourages community participation and deprives locals of job opportunities [41]; Hinders acceptability, maintainability, socio-economic recovery and long-term sustainability of housing [8,35,48]; Deprives beneficiaries of a sense of ownership [8,35,45]; Reduces knowledge transfer [36].…”