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Total quality management (TQM) has been recognized by many countries to be one of the keys to competitiveness. Organizations in other industries are increasingly using self-assessment instrument to drive continuous improvement and direct the TQM journey in moving the organizations towards business excellence. In Saudi Arabia, many organizations implementing TQM are in need for a self-assessment instrument to assist in implementing TQM properly. There is a clear need to evaluate or assess TQM practices as a key part of the TQM implementation strategy within the construction industry organizations using an appropriate self-assessment instrument. This thesis examined a novel approach for this problem through using Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award (MBNQA) as the most suitable TQM model selected among 16 models used worldwide within the construction industry organizations. The developed TQM generic model is based on the selected TQM model with consideration for the Saudi organizational culture and the requirements of construction industry. The criteria in the developed TQM generic model were used as a framework that was translated into a multi-item questionnaire for assessing quality performance. Quality, Assessment Instrument for the Saudi Construction Industry or "QAISCI" was developed and it has the potential to assist in implementing and assessing TQM. It contains TQM generic model, self-assessment questionnaire, scoring system and achievement assessment graph. Statistical testing confirmed that the self-assessment instrument is valid and there is significant correlation between the scores obtained from survey and that obtained from TQM assessors. The research also describes the results of survey about the quality management practices carried out for 112 organizations consisting of clients, design consultants and construction organizations. The level of TQM awareness for construction client, consultant-design, and construction organizations were determined through QAISCL The general level of TQM awareness for the construction industry organizations in Saudi Arabia appears to be "Enlightenment" or exactly in the early stage of "Enlightenment" with a percentage of progress towards full TQM implementation equals to32%. The clients and contractors are realizing that continuous quality improvements have been made and some benefits in the business are visible. Design consultants are seeing the first signs of improvement but still in the early stage of TQM joumey. The research also highlights on benchmarking and provides essential data for organizations. Benchmarking process showed that 13.64% of the consultant-design organizations and 20.94% of the construction organizations could be benchmarked to create continuous improvement. Also, through the study, 57% of the participating organization indicated that the main benefit they found from implementing TQM in the business was "cost savings" and 39% stated that the major barrier was "changing the organization culture" towards a quality culture. In addition, 50% illustrated that "evaluation of performance by merit rating" was the main pitfall.

The construction industry is one of the most dynamic, risky, and challenging businesses. Due to construction projects’ complexity and uniqueness, the number of risks present invariably goes beyond those found in other industries. Therefore, risk management should be applied as an integral part of project management for managing these risks – in particular in developing countries. Contingency theory was selected as the theoretical framework of this thesis. Since the environment has been considered as one of the important contextual variables being focused on in this theory, the research was situated within a specific environment. Considering the unstable social, economic and political conditions in Iran today in comparison with many other countries, it was found to be a suitable case to be evaluated in this thesis. A questionnaire was designed and twenty-five risks were identified and categorized in five main categories as follows: Political and Governmental, Managerial and Technical, Economic and Financial, Cultural and Social, and Natural. For each of these risks, relevant mitigation strategies were also proposed. Criticality of risks along with effectiveness of mitigation strategies were evaluated via 100 questionnaires which were distributed to the three key categories of actors associated with construction projects namely clients, contractors, and consultants. Out of 76 valid responses received, interviews were conducted with 24 of the participants in order to extract the knowledge and understand how these groups manage the identified risks. Findings of the research revealed that Economic and Financial risks have the greatest influence on construction projects in Iran. Moreover, there is a serious lack of risk management knowledge and expertise among all the three key categories of actors. The conclusion drawn from the evaluation of risk management strategies was that due to high volatility of the economic and political situation of the country, reactive risk management is practiced more than proactive risk management. The results of the case study about the risks and their management strategies have also implications for contingency theory; modifying the theory from a conceptual theory to a more meaningful theory. There is a mixture of proactive and reactive management while utilizing the theory for managing any situation and existence of this mixture needs to be made explicit in the theory. Likewise, utilization of contingency plan needs to be made more explicit in the theory. Moreover, employment of contingency theory for managing situations has been stated to be unique for each particular situation and therefore the situation should be defined in order to refer to a more specific concept. This eventually may lead to a more specific and detailed theory for any situation and hence instead of saying ‘it all depends’, it can be stated that ‘it depends on this and that’.

Building is consistently identified as one of the key sectors for sustainable development in general and for energy savings in particular (IPCC, 2007). The use of energy in buildings has been shown to account for around 40% of UK energy usage and improvements in building energy use and efficiency have become a significant focus of attention. This has resulted in the incorporation of innovative energy saving and renewable technologies into buildings. Worryingly, technological innovations for buildings consistently fail to deliver on their promises of improved efficiency and energy savings. There is a widespread assumption that the adoption of an innovative technology is mainly to do with the conditions of the market and technical effectiveness of the innovation. Given the complex nature of construction projects this assumption about adoption appears simplistic - many innovative technologies have to be accommodated within the fabric of the building and many project actors are involved in its incorporation. This research explores the process of building level adoption and asks what happens when an innovative integrated technology (BIPV) is incorporated into a building and in what ways this might explain the failure of the technology to deliver its potential. The research thus contributes to an understanding of the implications of the adoption of BIPV and other sustainable technologies in buildings. The Social Construction of Technology approach (SCOT) is used to study three UK commercial construction projects which include BIPV. Issues examined include: the changing interests of the actors; the network of problems and possible solutions; and the knock-on effects of the chosen solution on the rest of the project. The SCOT analysis of actors’ interests and their changing relationship with the artefacts provides a way to explore the co-development of the technology and the building, and the adoption process. Interests of actors include: generation maximisation, aesthetic concerns, design optimisation and green guardianship. The SCOT approach is used to focus on design decisions taken over the course of the building project and the influence of different actor interests on these. The research draws out different types of co-development and technology related decision making which occurred during the projects and follows the effect these had on adoption. Rather than using formal roles (architect, designer, project manager etc.) and project stages (initial design, tender, detail design etc.) to explain adoption, the research found that the interests of the groups shifted and changed: sometimes they followed the standard project stages, but sometimes followed different logics. Decision-making was found to be affected by the alignment of technological frames being mobilised by actors and could be dominated by a particular frame at different times. It was not always the seemingly obvious groups which dominated decision-making and shaped the technology. The effect of social artefacts in decision-making was explored. This research develops an understanding of the dynamic process of adoption and concludes with practical implications for standard construction project procurement processes in the adoption of complex innovation.

Construction projects are information intensive. A typical project generates tens of thousands of documents in the form of drawings, change orders, requests for information, specifications, etc. To ensure effective construction communication and coordination, it is essential to manage this information flow efficiently. Recent improvements to IT technologies have enabled construction companies to overcome some of the communication and co-ordination challenges they face. For example, the increased acceptance and widespread use of mobile computing and wireless technologies creates an opportunity to improve productivity and lower costs, by improving information flows to allow greater collaboration and information sharing between on-site personnel. The Construction industry in Saudi Arabia is experiencing rapid growth, with many huge infrastructure projects that are government financed. These projects are subject to delays and poor productivity and faces the challenge of remaining competitive or risk being overtaken by multinational companies who are reaping the benefits of up to date technologies. However, the construction industry in Saudi Arabia has peculiar characteristics, such as its multi-cultural workforce, high level of fragmentation, low level of employee education, extreme natural environment, and the transient nature of the construction workforce. These factors complicate the implementation of new technologies and other improvements to construction processes and practices. The literature is in broad agreement that digital communication technologies will have a positive impact on reducing costs and raising productivity; however, there is less understanding of why these technologies have not been more widely adopted. This study examined the general context and condition of mobile computing, and then explored the circumstances peculiar to Saudi construction projects. It then analysed the characteristic patterns, relationships, work processes and communication tools at Saudi construction sites, and discussed this information in reference to the literature to enable the researcher to develop and validate an implementation framework strategy for mobile computing by using Interpretive Structural Modelling (ISM) methodology. This framework strategy would enable any Saudi construction company to implement a mobile computing solution that meets its needs.

Investment in the global Oil and Gas sector is huge. In 2014, the cumulative investment in between 2014 and 2035 was estimated to be US$22.4 trillion, equivalent to an average annual spend of more than US$1 trillion. A high percentage of Oil & Gas projects go over budget, however, because of poor performance and major schedule delays. Many of these can be traced to problems originating in the design phase. This phase is typically carried out by experienced design consultants, followed by tendering and then execution, involving large construction organisations. Project delivery methods in the sector vary, with 57% using Design-Bid-Build, 38% Design-Build, and 5% Construction Manager at Risk. These methods provide no clear integration or collaborative approaches to ensure stakeholders involvement early during the design phase. This research examines the potential for using Integrated Project Delivery (IPD) as a new approach to improve collaboration by engaging full project teams from early in the design phase. It addresses the following questions: How do current practices in the Oil & Gas sector influence project performance? What are the factors behind poor project performance, and how can project performance be improved by the implementation of IPD? The aim of this research is to create a conceptual framework to implement IPD principles in Oil & Gas projects as a way of improving their performance. This framework will help project stakeholders to be involved during the design phase, which in turn will help to deliver high quality projects, where schedule and costs are tightly controlled. An extensive literature review found 1,056 factors affecting performance, of which 85 could be resolved if addressed at the design phase. A total of 55 factors were related to communication, project management, planning and design problems. A conceptual framework was created to equip stakeholders with a tool to implement IPD effectively. This framework was validated using case studies of very large Oil & Gas projects. This confirmed the criticality of the factors identified, and that they occurred during particular project stages. The framework was structured by plotting the major project stakeholders on one side and the project phases on the other (design phase, tendering, and construction), followed by the performance factors related to project management, planning, design and communication. For each factor, the stakeholders responsible were identified. The research concluded that the Oil & Gas industry suffers from poor performance and the current practices and execution strategies are influencing project delivery. There is a clear gap between the design and construction phases. The conceptual framework developed here will help to improve project performance by bridging the gap and involving all the stakeholders during the design phase, making sure that all the identified poor performance factors can be managed by all those affected, at the most suitable time. The framework is also expected to resolve other factors related to resources, procurement, environment and contracting which are linked to design, planning and project management factors.

Alliances within construction have increased significantly in number and in the volume of activity they undertake in recent years. Further, communications technologies have progressed to a degree where they can support collaborations across geographic borders. The prevailing literature generally notes that alliances are effective collaborative 'vehicles', which facilitate 'automatic' knowledge sharing. Although writers in the field highlight benefits of developing knowledge sharing as a core capability to create and maintain sustained collaboration and sustainable competitive advantage, a majority of the alliances engage in short-term orientated work processes targeting short-term commercial advantages. This research contextualised this phenomenon within construction alliances and investigated the business logic of developing knowledge sharing as a core capability. First, a conceptual model was developed from a review and synthesis of the relevant literature. The four variables in the conceptual model were: (i) Alliance strategic direction; (ii) Alliance Climate; (iii) Task relatedness of messages communicated through knowledge transfer mechanisms; and (iv) Media richness of knowledge transfer mechanisms. The conceptual model comprised the framework for five interrelated hypotheses. Then, the hypotheses were tested utilising two construction alliance case studies: HN alliance was a project based joint venture alliance between two large international construction contractors and XY alliance is a long-term strategic partnering alliance between a petroleum retailer and a construction project management company. The principal data collection methods used were semi structured interviews for senior executives and structured interviews for the project managers. The principal method used for data analysis was cognitive mapping. The empirical testing of hypotheses revealed that the alliances concentrated on shortterm commercial advantages to the detriment of longer term sustainable competitive advantages. Therefore, initiatives taken to improve high quality interactions among alliance participants and thereby sustain inter-firm relationships have not yielded the anticipated benefits. The study comments on the diagnostic robustness of the initial

The construction industry is responsible for approximately 50 per cent of global greenhouse gas emissions (Ramesh et al., 2010). With an increase in anthropogenic emissions linked to the rise in global temperatures and climate change, many of the most highly emitting industries have been coerced in to looking for ways to measure their emissions outputs in line with potential emissions legislation (Wang, Chang and Nunn, 2010; Ortiz et al., 2009). The response to the perceived pressure has been an industry movement towards the use of technological measurement systems. In recent times there has been an abundance of life cycle analysis (LCA) technology available, however, thus far none have achieved widespread uptake in the construction industry (Strategic Forum for Construction, 2010). The technological understanding of emissions measurement is apparent yet the industry has failed to implement it. The lack of uptake has led to a perception that the problem faced may not be entrenched in the technology but may be due to behavioural characteristics of the construction industry itself. The motivation for this research was the sponsoring company’s drive to redevelop LCA by understanding the associated behavioural barriers to its development and implementation. The purpose of this research was firstly to analyse the failures of technological life cycle analysis methods, with the prospect of formulating a novel supply chain perspective to LCA, capable of understanding behavioural barriers to sustainable construction. By addressing construction supply chain structures and institutional barriers to the diffusion of innovative strategy, an evaluation of the impact that institutional isomorphic pressure has on the diffusion of low carbon innovation was facilitated. Understanding the construction industry as an institution enables an understanding of how behavioural implications impact the introduction of novel practices. Due to the quantitative focus of previous research, empirical data was collected using qualitative methods consisting of a focus group and a series of expert interviews with construction industry professionals. The qualitative approach addressed the need for research which moves beyond the generalisation of quantitative findings in prior emissions studies. The results show that the most important factors in the construction industry which impact on the diffusion of low carbon strategy are centred on the supply chain, client power, collaboration, risk and cost. The noted themes were found to link to institutional pressures which inhibit the diffusion of low carbon innovation. The result of the data collection was the development of a networked supply chain model which could theoretically help the industry to transcend institutional pressure barriers though collaborative approaches to LCA. The key implication of the study is the acknowledgement of the criticality of collaborative approaches in LCA. The resultant networked supply chain model alongside the establishment of key institutional pressure barriers could have a positive effect on the future development of life cycle analysis systems. The hierarchical and linear structure of the current supply chain is not conducive to low carbon construction. The contribution of this research is the furthering of collaborative supply chain knowledge in the development of low carbon construction.

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