Thesis (M.B.A.)--University of Hong Kong, 1991.

Idag har bygg- och anläggningsbranschen låg produktivitet och icke-värdeskapande aktiviteter uppgår till 30- 35% av projektets produktionskostnad. Genom en effektiv logistikhantering ökar produktiviteten och minskar slöserier och därmed byggkostnaden. Studien fokuserar på anläggningsbranschen då det i dagsläget är brist på forskar- och grundutbildad personal inom anläggning vilket även speglar sig i antalet vetenskapliga artiklar som publicerats inom anläggning. Det finns därför ett syfte i att skapa en större teoretisk förståelse för anläggningsbranschen. Studiens syfte har varit att undersöka planeringsfasen för logistik i ett anläggningsprojekt och ta fram en konceptuell logistiskmodell för ett anläggningsprojekt. I anläggningsprojekt är det ofta problem med stora projektytor och svåråtkomlig terräng men det kan även vara problem med trånga utrymmen runt projektet. Dessutom innebär projekt i anläggningsbranschen ofta omfattande hantering av massor. I fallföretaget finns det ingen tydlig logistiskmodell som efterföljs och man har svårt att se fördelarna med att använda logistik. Målet med studien är att genom den konceptuellt framtagna logistiskmodellen få ett standardiserat arbetssätt och därmed effektivisera produktionen och minska kostnaderna. Dessutom är målet att bidra till forskningen om logistik i anläggningsbranschen. Explorativt forskningssyfte har använts för att uppfylla studien syfte. Detta för att skapa en större förståelse för logistik i anläggningsbranschen. Forskningsansatsen är deduktiv i och med att logistikmodellen har utvecklats från befintlig teori, och testas empiririsk i fokusgrupper. En kvalitativ strategi har tillämpats på denna studie då fokus är på att skapa en djupare förståelse och ge möjlighet till anpassning beroende på vad som hittas i datainsamlingen. De datainsamlingsmetoder som har använts är litteraturstudie, intervjuer, fokusgrupper och kvalitativ sekundärdata. För att säkerställa studiens kvalitet användes triangulering men även granskning av handledare och personer som deltog under fokusgrupper och intervjuer. Den konceptuella logistiskmodellen består av sjutton komponenter som innehåller aktiviteter/verktyg och förutsättningar som krävs för en effektiv logistikhantering i anläggning. Med hjälp av denna modell kan företag utvärdera vilka logistiska aktiviteter som bör genomföras i ett anläggningsprojekt samt se vilka förutsättningar som krävs. I fallföretaget genomförs inte alla dessa aktiviteter och det är vissa viktiga förutsättningar som fattas. Fallföretaget rekommenderas att upprätta en utbildning om logistik, skapa en tydligare logistikorganisation och ta fram standardiserade processer för logistik. / Today the construction industry has low productivity and the waste is about 30-35% of a project's production cost. By using an efficient logistics management the productivity will increase, which will reduce the waste and production cost. This thesis focuses on the construction industry with focus on civil engineering projects. It is a lack of research that focus on civil engineering projects, which is reflected in the number of scientific articles that has been published in this area. Hence, this is a reason to research further about civil engineering projects in order to create a bigger theoretical understanding. The aim of this thesis was to investigate the planning process with focus on logistic and to develop a conceptual logistic model for civil engineering projects. In civil engineering projects, companies often have problem with large project areas and difficult terrain around the project. But there can also be problems with narrow spaces. In addition to this, civil engineering projects often have to manage a large amount of masses. The company that this thesis has been conducted at has no clear logistic model that the staff follows, and they find it difficult to see the benefits with logistic. The aim of this thesis is to develop a conceptual logistic model that generates a more standardized work method that streamline the production and reduce the costs. In addition, the goal is also to contribute to research on logistics in the construction industry that focus on civil engineering projects. To fulfill the aim of the thesis an exploratory research have been used. This to create a greater understanding of logistics in the construction industry with focus on civil engineering projects. The research approach is deductive because the logistic model has been developed from existing theory and been empirically tested by using focus groups. A qualitative strategy has been applied on this thesis since the aim is to create a deeper understanding and a qualitative strategy gives an opportunity to adjust the thesis depending on what is found in the data collection. The data has been collected through a literature study, interviews, and focus groups. Data has also been collected from qualitative secondary data. During the focus groups the conceptual logistic model, which are based on the data from theory, interviews and empirical data, was tested. In order to ensure the quality of the thesis, triangulation was used. But the thesis was also reviewed by the supervisors and the persons who participated in the focus groups as well as the interviews. The conceptual logistic model consists of seventeen components that contains activities/tools and conditions that are required for an efficient logistics management. With this model the company that the thesis has been conducted at, but also other similar companies, can see what logistics activities needs to be done but also see what conditions are required. The company where the thesis has been conducted at does not perform all of these activities and some important conditions is not fulfilled. The company is recommended to educate in logistics, make a clear logistic organization and develop standardized processes for logistics.

Six civil engineering and building projects under construction have been observed in order to compare theory and practice, and thus draw conclusions on how clients and their management teams may control construction effectively. It has been reported and the six studies have shown that during construction as problems occur decisions taken to tackle them result in changes to one or more of the independant variables cost, time and performance. It is therefore argued in this thesis that if these variables are to be controlled to the client's benefit: (i) clear responsibilities, duties and authority to make decisions should be given to the members of project management teams; (ii) a project control system should be set up which will help the management team to perform those duties; (iii) both the management team and the system should be organized to suit the particular project and client.

Recent studies suggest that the number of students pursuing science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) degrees has been generally decreasing. An extensive body of research cites the lack of motivation and engagement in the learning process as a major underlying reason of this decline. It has been discussed that if properly implemented, instructional technology can enhance student engagement and the quality of learning. Therefore, the main goal of this research is to implement and assess effectiveness of augmented reality (AR)-based pedagogical tools on student learning. For this purpose, two sets of experiments were designed and implemented in two different construction and civil engineering undergraduate level courses at the University of Central Florida (UCF). The first experiment was designed to systematically assess the effectiveness of a context-aware mobile AR tool (CAM-ART) in real classroom-scale environment. This tool was used to enhance traditional lecture-based instruction and information delivery by augmenting the contents of an ordinary textbook using computer-generated three-dimensional (3D) objects and other virtual multimedia (e.g. sound, video, graphs). The experiment conducted on two separate control and test groups and pre- and post- performance data as well as student perception of using CAM-ART was collected through several feedback questionnaires. In the second experiment, a building design and assembly task competition was designed and conducted using a mobile AR platform. The pedagogical value of mobile AR-based instruction and information delivery to student learning in a large-scale classroom setting was also assessed and investigated. Similar to the first experiment, students in this experiment were divided into two control and test groups. Students' performance data as well as their feedback, suggestions, and workload were systematically collected and analyzed. Data analysis showed that the mobile AR framework had a measurable and positive impact on students' learning. In particular, it was found that students in the test group (who used the AR tool) performed slightly better with respect to certain measures and spent more time on collaboration, communication, and exchanging ideas in both experiments. Overall, students ranked the effectiveness of the AR tool very high and stated that it has a good potential to reform traditional teaching methods.

Det kommer ske stora investeringar inom den svenska infrastrukturen fram till år 2029. Detta leder till en stor möjlighet för entreprenadföretag inom branschen att växa på marknaden och få en ökad lönsamhet. För att generera en bra lönsamhet krävs det att tillgängliga resurser nyttjas på bästa sätt och slöseri minimeras så att en ökad effektivitet kan uppnås för processer. Ser man till hållbarhetsaspekten kan upp till 40% av de globala utsläppen av växthusgaser kopplas mot bygg- och anläggningsbranschen. För att anläggningsbranschen ska kunna bidra till en hållbar utveckling på sikt krävs det därför att slöseri minimeras och effektiva processer uppnås. Studien fokuserar på slöseri inom anläggningsbranschen då det idag är ett relativt outforskat område sett till antal publicerade arbeten inom problemområdet.   Studiens syfte har varit att undersöka slöseri för produktionsprocessen inom vägentreprenader. Detta har realiserats med hjälp av en fallstudie på ett anläggningsföretag. Genom att kartlägga slöseriet och dess orsaker har målet varit att ta fram ett effektiviseringsförslag för produktionsprocessen. Detta för att slöseriet ska reduceras och en effektivare produktionsprocess ska uppnås. Dessutom har målet varit att bidra till forskningen inom slöseri för anläggningsbranschen.   För att uppfylla studiens syfte har ett utforskande forskningssyfte tillämpats. Detta för att öka förståelsen inom problemområdet. Forskningsansatsen är av induktiv karaktär då studien utgår från observationer i verkligheten från intervjuer och fokusgrupp, till en generalisering av en teoretisk modell. En kvalitativ strategi har tillämpats för studien då fokus har legat på att skapa större förståelse för problemområdet och ge möjligheten att anpassa forskningen efter vad som uppkommit vid datainsamlingen. Datainsamlingsmetoderna som nyttjats för studien är litteraturstudie, intervjuer, fokusgrupp och kvalitativa sekundärdata. Triangulering och granskning från handledare har även nyttjats för att säkerställa studiens trovärdighet och kvalitet.   Studien visar att slöseri i form av väntan, onödiga transporter och felaktigt utförande återfinns i produktionsprocessen för vägentreprenader. Slöseriet uppstår primärt för aktiviteterna schaktning och avvattningsåtgärder, sprängning och transporter. Orsakerna till slöseriet kan delas in i två kategorier: externa och interna. Externa orsaker uppkommer från beställare, leverantör och geografiskt läge. Detta i form av långa körsträckor, resursbrist, tillhandahållande av beslut och bygghandlingar samt kompetens och rutin hos maskinförare. Interna orsaker uppkommer från entreprenören i form av begränsad styrning och kontroll över produktionen. Effektiviseringsförslaget togs fram genom programmet DynaRoad för att skapa massdisponeringsplaner för att minimera slöseriet onödiga transporter och få en bättre resurseffektivitet.   Den huvudsakliga rekommendationen till fallföretaget är att prioritera planeringen för sin entreprenadverksamhet. Detta ger fallföretaget bättre projektförutsättningar, vilket leder till att effektivare processer kan uppnås då slöseri minimeras. / The Swedish infrastructure will receive large investments until year 2029. This leads to big opportunities for construction companies within the industry to grow and increase their profitability. To generate good profit, it is important that the available resources are used in the best possible way so waste can be minimized, and efficient processes can be achieved. Taking the sustainability aspect in consideration, 40% of the global emissions can be linked to the construction sector. In order to reduce the environmental impact and contribute to sustainable development, the construction sector needs to minimize waste and achieve efficient processes. The focus of this thesis is regarding waste within construction industry and civil engineering projects, because of the limited research conducted within the field.   The aim of this thesis was to investigate waste for the production process regarding road projects. Further, their causes have also been investigated. This has been done by a case study on a construction company. By mapping the waste and their causes the aim has been to produce a recommendation to streamline the company´s operation. Further, the goal for this study has also been to contribute to the research on waste in the construction industry, with a focus towards road construction projects.   An exploratory researched been used for this thesis, to achieve the aim. This to increase the understanding for the field of study. The research approach is inductive hence, the study is based on observations from interviews and focus group, to a generalization of a theoretical model. A qualitative strategy has been applied for the thesis since the aim has been to create a deeper understanding for the field of study and give the possibility to adjust the research depending on what is found in the data collection. To collect data for this thesis a literature study, interviews, focus group and qualitative secondary data has been used. Further, triangulation and review by the supervisors has been used to ensure the credibility and quality for the thesis.   The study identifies waste in waiting, unnecessary transportation and improperly execution for the production process in road projects. The waste arises primarily for the activities excavation, blasting and transportation. The causes can be divided into two categories: external and internal. External causes emerge from clients, suppliers and geographical location. This in the form of long mass haul distances, resource shortage, provision of construction documents & decisions and competence & routine by the machine operators. Internal causes arise from guiding and control over the production. The proposal for the production process was developed through the software DynaRoad to be able to create a mass haul plan in order to reduce the unnecessary transports and increase the resource efficiency.   The recommendation for the company where this thesis has been conducted is to put a lot of effort into their planning process. This will result in better project basis, which leads to increased efficiency when the waste can be minimized.

The diploma thesis deals with current trends in communication and teamwork in construction companies in the Czech Republic. The aim of the thesis is first to theoretically describe and explain the concepts of communication and teamwork and then to conduct research in construction companies and find out what are the current trends in communication and teamwork. The first part of the diploma thesis is theoretical and focuses on knowledge and concepts gained from the literature. The second part of the diploma thesis is practical. Based on the acquired theoretical knowledge, research questions are compiled. Their task is to find out current trends in communication and teamwork. These trends are currently influenced mainly by covid-19 and related problems, which are limiting human contact and isolation. Based on the research questions, a questionnaire survey and two guided interviews are compiled. Their task is to find out how communication and teamwork takes place in construction companies at present. At the end of the thesis, questions focused on current trends in communication and teamwork are answered thanks to the obtained results.